Alex Rodriguez might not be in the proverbial “best shape of his life,” but he did show up to Yankees camp this weekend with a trimmer self.

According to Buster Olney of ESPN.com, the 35-year-old Rodriguez dropped from 233 pounds to 223 pounds this offseason and slid his body fat from 12 percent to nine percent.

Rodriguez has played in at least 116 games in each of the last 15 seasons, but he will turn 36 years old this summer and knows that he needs to stay ahead of the curve fitness-wise to remain an effective third baseman over the course of his massive contract. The DH spot is spoken for this year and should probably be inhabited by Derek Jeter in two years or so.

A-Rod slugged 30 home runs, batted .270/.341/.506 and tallied 125 RBI over 137 games last season.

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports Thursday that the Orioles “are said to have begun fielding calls of interest” on superstar Manny Machado and “are close to the point of seriously weighing whether to trade him.”

You’d think it would be a no-brainer for the last-place O’s to flip Machado — an impending free agent — for prospects, but Heyman notes there is “still a question whether or not longtime Orioles owner Peter Angelos” will give the go-ahead. One person familiar with the situation put it a “50-50” likelihood. Another suggested that it would take a massive return, which, sure.

Machado entered play Thursday with a sensational .328/.405/.635 batting line, 15 home runs, and an MLB-leading 43 RBI in 49 games. It’d be a real shock if he’s still wearing an O’s uniform by the end of July.

Heyman reported previously that at least nine teams made aggressive plays for Machado this winter, including the Cubs, Phillies, Dodgers, Indians, Diamondbacks, Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, and Cardinals. A whole lot of those teams still make sense here in late May — maybe all of them except the White Sox.